August 2017

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The term “reasonable accommodation” has a specific meaning in employment law. It arises in the context of disability discrimination, pregnancy discrimination, and religious discrimination. Here I will discuss its meaning in the context of disability discrimination by an employer against an employee or job applicant. The Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.…

Read More What Is a “Reasonable Accommodation” For a “Disability”?
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One common type of personal injury case involves someone being injured as a result of tripping and falling on someone’s property, resulting in injury. In these so-called “trip-and-fall” cases, courts have developed and applied the “trivial defect” doctrine. The Law In determining whether a defect is “trivial” as a matter of law, the court must…

Read More The “Trivial Defect” Doctrine in Personal Injury Trip-and-Fall Premises Liability Cases
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One frequently-occurring personal injury case is the so-called “slip-and-fall” case, which in turn is a species of “premises liability” claims. One court[1]Decker v. Middletown Walmart Supercenter Store, No. 15 CIV. 2886 (JCM), 2017 WL 568761 (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 10, 2017) recently summarized the law as follows: In New York, [t]o establish a prima facie case of…

Read More Surviving Summary Judgment in a Slip-and-Fall Premises Liability Case
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Proving employment discrimination is no easy task. Over time, courts have developed an analytical method for evaluating such claims. Proving Employment Discrimination With “Indirect” or “Circumstantial” Evidence When a plaintiff alleges employment discrimination based on indirect, or circumstantial, evidence, courts employ the “burden-shifting” framework set out in McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792…

Read More Proving Employment Discrimination
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In a recent complaint filed in Manhattan federal court, captioned Allen v. Goldman Sachs, SDNY 17-cv-6195 (filed 8/16/17), plaintiff Rebecca Allen – a member of Goldman’s Private Wealth Management Division – alleges (inter alia) that “[a]s a result of [a] pattern and practice of discriminatory conduct, the few Black employees at the Bank are marginalized and…

Read More Race Discrimination Lawsuit Against Goldman Sachs
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In Lee v. Acevedo, 2017 NY Slip Op 05586 (App. Div. 2d Dept. July 12, 2017) – a personal injury premises liability case – the Appellate Division reversed the lower court’s award of summary judgment to defendant. Here are the facts, as summarized by the court: [Plaintiff alleged that she was injured] after she fell backwards…

Read More Fall-Down-Stairs Personal Injury Case Survives Summary Judgment
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In Jenkins v. NYC Transit Authority, 2017 WL 3207093  (N.Y. Sup. Ct. Index 153761/13 July 28, 2017), the court denied defendants’ motion for summary judgment on plaintiffs’ sexual harassment/hostile work environment claims under the New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL). Plaintiffs, three female bus operators employed by the Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating…

Read More Bus Operators’ Sexual Harassment/Hostile Work Environment Claims Survive Summary Judgment
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In Roa v. Staples, Inc., 2017 WL 3425779 (SDNY Aug. 9, 2017), the court denied defendant’s motion for summary judgment dismissing plaintiff’s disability discrimination claim. Although it was undisputed that defendant terminated plaintiff based on the belief that plaintiff stole another employee’s bag of chips, the court held that plaintiff provided enough evidence of discriminatory…

Read More Disability Discrimination Claim Against Staples Survives Summary Judgment
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In Sosa v. Rockland County Community College, 2017 WL 3105872 (SDNY July 20, 2017), the court dismissed plaintiff’s national origin discrimination (failure to promote) claim. “To establish a prima facie case of race or national origin discrimination under Title VII, a plaintiff must show that: (1) [s]he belonged to a protected class; (2) [s]he was…

Read More Court Dismisses Mexican-American Professor’s Title VII National Origin Discrimination (Failure to Promote) Claim
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In Chojnacki v. Old Westbury Gardens, Inc., 2017 NY Slip Op 05706, 2017 WL 3045841 (App. Div. 2d Dept. July 19, 2017), the court reversed a lower court’s finding that the alleged defect that caused plaintiff to fall – a raised brick – was “trivial” as a matter of law. From the decision:: The Supreme Court…

Read More Trip/Fall Case Survives Summary Judgment; Raised Brick Was Not a “Trivial Defect” as a Matter of Law
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